The Fairest Salvatore Of Them All
by rocketstar
Summary: Madeleine Salvatore knew getting phone calls late at night never bode well especially when it was her younger brother Stefan calling about their older brother Damon. Reluctantly Maddie goes home where in the midst of never ending crisis's about vampires, witches, werewolves, dopplegängers and curses she falls in love with the last person she'd ever expect to...
1. Chapter 1

The blaring sound of her phone going off disturbed Madeleine Salvatore from finishing her nightcap and climbing into bed, looking at her watch that laid discarded on her bedside table Maddie saw that the time read quarter past eleven which caused her to frown as who was calling her at this hour? Whoever it was on the phone was wither either on idiot, a moron or both given that anyone who knew Maddie was well aware of the fact that she liked her sleep. Maddie was fully intending of ignoring the call until she saw the caller id; Stefan. Her younger brother. The fact that Stefan was calling her wasn't odd but the fact he was calling this late was. He must really need to talk to her if he was calling now, so with a sigh Maddie grabbed her phone and picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi Madeleine." Stefan replied and Maddie pulled the phone away from her ear to actually look at it. _Madeleine_, where the hell did that come from? The only person who ever called her by her whole name was her father and he had been dead for a hundred and forty five years. The only other times Maddie was addressed, as Madeleine was when her brothers were teasing her, she was losing her temper or someone was being serious as something had happened.

"Hey it's pretty late for you to be calling, has something happened?" Maddie asked.

"It's Damon." Stefan quietly said.

"Damon?" Maddie repeated to make sure that she was hearing thing correctly, Stefan was calling her to talk about their older brother Damon, who he wasn't exactly on the best of terms with and hadn't seen in the last fifteen years as Damon had this thing about wanting to make Stefan's life hell ever since the three of them had become vampires a hundred and forty five years ago.

"He's in a really bad place right now. I think he could do with seeing you right now…"

"W-wait? Your with Damon…" Maddie said slowly as the last time she was in the same room as her brothers she had to physically restrain Damon as for some reason he and Stefan tended to go for each other. Which resulted in various things being broken. Given that her brothers hadn't seen each other in fifteen years, Maddie was very surprised to hear that the two of them were together. "What's going on Stefan? Last time I checked you two hadn't seen each other in over a decade because you can't stand to be in the same room as each other but now the two of you are together?"

"I will explain everything Maddie, I just need you to come." Stefan pleaded and Maddie looked at her watch and sighed, she was tired and just wanted to curl up in bed and now Stefan wanted her to come and clean up Damon from whatever drunken depressive state he had most likely fallen in.

"Where are you?" Maddie asked.

"Home."

Maddie just bit her lip in an effort to stop a flurry of swearwords from coming out of her mouth. Her brothers were back in Mystic Falls again, the once place she wished that they would never return to but apparently they had. Things never went well when her brothers were back home, blood was spilt, people were hurt and a lot of the time people died. Looking at her watch, she was in Pittsburgh and it would take her about five hours to get to Mystic Falls. Maybe less if she disregarded the speed limit. She'd have to pack a bag as this was going to take a couple of days at least, Maddie figured what the hell as it was almost Christmas and it would be nice to catch up with her brothers and Zach. So she's go to Mystic Falls, fix everything and after New Years be on her merry way out. It was a plan.

However plans and the Salvatore's didn't exactly do well together and round about 5 am Maddie found herself back in Mystic Falls and standing outside home. Well that wasn't true as the original Salvatore estate had fallen not long after the battle of Willow Creek but the Salvatore boarding house was built not long after. Taking a deep breath Maddie opened the front door and walked in, the living room was the same as always and empty considering the time of day. Dropping her bags to the floor Maddie sighed, Zach wasn't going to be too thrilled to see her when he woke up but then he'd probably react better to seeing her then he did when he saw Damon. Sighing to herself Maddie was about to sit herself down on the couch when Stefan walked out the room and despite everything Maddie smiled. She was always happy to see him.

"Hey you, long time no see little brother!" Maddie quietly began as Stefan made his way over to her and pulled her into a bear hug.

"I've missed you." Stefan replied once he put Maddie down.

"Same." Maddie began before deciding to address the huge elephant in the room. "So what exactly is so wrong with Damon that I had to come here and why are you to here back home? After what happened last time I thought I made it clear that you and Damon were never to be back here at the same time!"

"Don't hit the roof Maddie." Stefan began which was a sign of the bad things to come if Stefan warning Maddie not to get mad about what he was about to tell him,

"How bad?"

"Katherine's alive. Her along with all the other vampires who we thought died back in 1864, they had actually been trapped by Emily Bennett in a tomb under Fell's church. It's complicated and I'll explain everything later but basically Damon had to wait until a comet had passed over Mystic Falls before he could try and get her out. Tonight with the help with Emily's descendent Damon went to go get her…"

"And… So what? Katherine the evil bitch is out?" Maddie asked in an annoyed tone of voice. That was the last news she was expecting to hear but she had to remind herself that this wasn't about her, this was about Damon/

"Katherine wasn't there Maddie. She had never been in the tomb; she had somehow escaped when they were rounding up the vampires back then. All this time I thought she was dead and then I found out Damon had known she was alive this whole time. He waited all this time to free her and she wasn't there." Stefan interrupted and Maddie swallowed a lump in her throat. She had always hated Katherine, there was something about her that she always disliked but the biggest thing was that Maddie hated the fact that Katherine changed her brothers, changed all of them. It was Katherine who turned them all into vampires and she was the one who got between Damon and Stefan, making their relationship what it was today.

"Wow…" Maddie quietly said. "Does he know I'm here?"

Stefan shook his head. "No."

"I'll go talk to him, there's probably not much I can say but after that we can talk more and in the morning I'll have to talk to Zach and tell him that I'm going be here for a couple of weeks." Maddie began."

"Maddie, about Zach…"

"What?"

"Damon killed him, just over a months a go. The last week of September…" Stefan revealed and Maddie felt her stomach drop. Part of it was in shock given that she couldn't believe that Damon had killed Zach, their nephew and with that ending the Salvatore line. But then half of her wasn't shocked as Damon had a habit of killing relatives and had done the last time him and Stefan were both at Mystic Falls in the fifties.

"Where is he?" Maddie asked.

"The library."

"How are you?"

"Go Maddie, I'm fine he needs you more than I do." Stefan assured Maddie and so she placed a comforting hand onto Stefan's shoulder before moving away and heading towards the library. When she arrived the room was barely lit apart from a few dim lamps and the glow from the fireplace, which is where she saw Damon. Making her way over to where he sat Maddie, noticed that he didn't even realize anyone was here as his eyes were just focused on the fireplace despite the lost look in eyes. So Maddie moved till she was standing in front of Damon before kneeling down.

"Hey stranger!" Maddie quietly began and she watched as Damon's eyes flickered up to her and his attempts to raise a smile failed.

"Hey Leni." Damon began using the childhood nickname that their mother coined for Maddie for when Stefan was a young child and couldn't pronounce Madeleine. The nickname was seldom used these days and when it was used it was because of some terrible event that had happened, so it was oddly fitting for Damon to be calling Maddie Leni.

"You've probably figured this out already but Stefan called, he's told me what happened tonight. It's seems like you've been busy these last couple of months, explains why you haven't called these last couple of months." Maddie said trying to keep things light given that it was late and Damon looked like he could do with a good night's sleep.

"If I had told you Leni, you would have yelled me at me. You always yell." Damon blankly noted.

"Your damn right I would have yelled but you know me Damon, my bark is worse than my bite. I'm sorry about tonight." Maddie said.

"No your not, you always hated her Leni."

"I may hate her but I care about you Damon, you're my big brother. I have to love you even when you fall in love with people I absolutely can't stand." Maddie honestly admitted, her brothers drove her up the wall more Damon and Stefan but no matter what she would always love them even after they did stupid things like killing their only remaining living relative. "Will you do me a favour?"

"What?" Damon asked.

"Go upstairs to bed. I know I'm tired and I figure you and Stefan sure as hell must be as you've had a pretty long night. Get some sleep and we'll talk tomorrow and I'll even be nice and promise I won't yell for an entire day." Maddie began as she gently prodded Damon's cheek with her finger. "C'mon you know that's a good deal…"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"How long you going to be here for this time Leni? A week or two? Before you've had enough and disappear for weeks or months at a time before you finally decided to speak to me again." Damon questioned bringing up the fact that Maddie often pulled a disappearing act when things got out of hand.

"I don't know, however long you need me for. I guess…"


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning or rather a few hours later Maddie stumbled out of bed, Damon was still sleeping and probably would be for a couple of hours later and Stefan, the early riser was already up and writing his journal. The two of them were planning on talking but that was currently on hold until after Maddie had about two cups of coffee. Unlike Stefan, Maddie was not someone who woke up in the morning all bright eyes and bushy tailed, she needed a couple of coffee but this morning she decided she was going to need an irish coffee to get through the day. There was so much to go through and talk about like what happened to Zach, the truth about the tomb vampires and more importantly why Damon and Stefan had returned to Mystic Falls in the first place. Making her way through the living room to get to the kitchen Maddie, was surprised when the front door creaked open and in walked the last person she ever expected to see; Katherine Pierce.

"You have some real nerve showing up here after all this time, after everything you did…" Maddie began as she ran over to the door and grabbed Katherine by the neck and dragged her into the house. "You've had my brothers fawning all over you for the last one hundred and forty five years, Damon waited all this time and risked everything to get you out of the tomb you were supposed to be in!"

"A-ah…"

"Spare your pleading Katherine, you've had this coming ever since you tricked my poor papa into letting you stay in our house. You brought death and carnage to this place, I lost the place I called home and the man I love because of you not to mention you are the reason my brothers and I are like this. You were supposed to have died back in 1864–" Maddie began as she began to squeeze Katherine's neck just a tad bit harder.

"Maddie!" Stefan called out.

"I'm a little busy right now Stefan, getting rid of something that should have died back in 1864!" Maddie retorted.

"That's not Katherine!"

"I maybe a hundred and sixty six years old but I am not blind Stefan, my eye sight is even better than from when I was still human." Maddie hissed.

"Leni, trust me it's not Katherine." Stefan urged placing a hand on Maddie's shoulder and rather reluctantly she let go off the Katherine look alike who dropped to the ground like a ton of bricks and starting couching as she tried to regain her breath and Maddie just watched as Stefan went to her side.

"I'm going to make myself a coffee and when I come back there had better be a full explanation of who this girl is and why she looks like Katherine and better yet why is she in my house." Maddie warned making her over back into the living room and grabbing a bottle of Irish whiskey before making her way into the kitchen. As Maddie prepared her morning drink, various reasons and theories were running through her head about why her brothers were and all of them weren't good. Maddie wasn't stupid, she knew the truth about her brothers like how once was a functioning sociopath who technically wasn't a sociopath but chose off to shut off his emotion as it was easier for him to not deal with emotions. Then the other was a ripper, who was struggling on a daily basis to curb his blood thirst with animal blood instead.

They weren't perfect and thing tended to lead to trouble following them and given that their nephew was dead and there was a Katherine look a like running around town, it seemed like trouble was very much as neatly settled in Mystic Falls like her brothers. As damaged as they were Maddie was fully aware she was damaged as the two of them were; perhaps even more.

"Leni? You ready to talk?"

Turning around Maddie saw Stefan standing in the doorway of the kitchen and she took a large gulp of her irish coffee before following Stefan out of the kitchen back into the living room where the Katherine clone was waiting for them. "So… is someone going to start explaining or we all just going to stand here whilst I drink and remain confused as to everything that's going on here."

"Maddie this is Elena Gilbert." Stefan began. "Elena this is my sister Madeleine Salvatore–"

"–I'm the middle sibling who no one ever talks about." Maddie quipped interrupting Stefan before he could finish.

"That's not true Maddie, I've actually told Elena all about you." Stefan finished.

"Well forgive me for making assumptions, it's just that you've had this whole little life set up here for the last few months and it's only now that I'm just hearing about it. So forgive me for freaking out when I see someone who looks my least favourite person in the world." Maddie said in a fake cheery manner before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Leni…" Stefan said in a tired tone of voice.

"Your lucky I promised Damon I wasn't going to shout but whatever." Maddie began before turning to Elena. "Knowing my sweet little brother he wants me to apologize for what happened earlier but I'm not going to because you remind me of someone who I dislike very much if you couldn't already tell by the whole me grabbing you by the neck."

"Katherine, right?" Elena stated.

"Smart cookie, Stefan said your name was Gilbert? I assuming you come from the founding family Gilbert. Probably a relation of the great Johnathan Gilbert. He was funny old man but great friends with Papa and I'm assuming that if you know of Katherine then you know about the deep dark secret." Maddie said.

"Yes. I know that Damon and Stefan are vampires."

"Really good thing I promised Damon I wouldn't lose my temper." Maddie replied as she swallowed the rest of the Irish coffee in one gulp. That's who Maddie was in her family; the one realistic one who shouted and tried to keep everyone in line but when it got too hard she fled. And Maddie was currently fighting that urge to leave. Damon knew she'd leave like she always did but this time she promised she wouldn't. It was a good thing the house was stocked with a lot of scotch because she was going to need it.

"So you've come back to town Madeleine." Elena began.

"Maddie please Elena. It's never a good thing when I'm called about Madeleine but yeah I came back to town to take care of Damon and I figured I'd stick around to least after new years to give me time to catch up with my beloved brothers who I haven't seen in so long. But enough about me, what about you Elena? You look like Katherine but you're a Gilbert so what's up with that? Last time I checked Katherine was an orphan from Atlanta although that was probably a pack of lies." Maddie said with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"Forgive her Elena, Leni isn't once for tact or subtlety it's something she and Damon have that in common." Stefan replied in a warm manner before turning to Maddie. "We don't exactly know why Elena looks like Katherine but we know that the Gilberts adopted her, we think it's same to assume that Elena is a descendant of Katherine's family through her adoptive parents."

"That sucks. The being related to Katherine part, that is." Maddie said.

"Leni…" Stefan warned.

"So what has Stefan, my wonderful and delightful baby brother told you about me? Did he tell you how I 'accidently' broke his arm when he was eight or that I used to let him braid my hair or the fact that I used to read to him when he was a small boy! I bet he's been telling you of that horrid nickname that he uses behind my back but always claims he's never called me such a thing." Maddie said with a small chuckled.

"Maddie, you know the only thing I ever call you is Maddie or Leni, there is no nickname." Stefan began.

"Liar!" Maddie retorted.

"What nickname?"

"Oh there are several. Maddie and Leni, like Stefan has pointed out but then there is the Miss Havisham and the Annie Wilkes nicknames. Stefan pretends that he doesn't call me the Havisham one and Damon occasionally calls me Annie Wilkes because of my apparent similarities in personality to the villain in that Stephen King book." Maddie noted.

"Why does Stefan call you Miss Havisham?" Elena asked.

Stefan sighed. "I don't –"

"Yes he does Elena. He calls me Miss Havisham because I was supposed to get married to George Lockwood. However due to past events that never happened, I wasn't jilted like the character in Charles Dickens novel instead I was turned into a vampire and I had to leave town. Couldn't stay and I most certainly couldn't get married, to say I was heartbroken was putting it mildly and I kind of went mad with grief. I still have the engagement ring and the dress is locked up in a trunk in the attic, I've never gotten over it and swore of men ever since. So you can see why I'm compared to a demented spinster." Maddie said snorting in amusement.

"Leni…" Stefan began.

"Ever has it been that love knows not it's own depth until the hour of separation. Kahlil Gibran said that and boy did he have it right…"


	3. Chapter 3

Maddie stood at the foot of her bed, slowly unpacking the rest of her belongings in the room she decided to take up residence in during the duration of her stay in Mystic Falls. Maddie wasn't sure how long she was going to be back in town for as Damon was unpredictable and this thing with Katherine not being in the tomb like she was supposed to be had done god knows how damage. A hundred and forty five years her brother had waited for some day comet to pass so he could access that tomb. After all those years Katherine was still stringing Damon along. Speaking of Damon, in the corner of her eye Maddie could see him standing in the doorway of her room.

"Yes Damon?" Maddie asked.

"That's a nice ride you have parked outside; an Aston Martin DB5 convertible? Where the hell did you get your hand on one of those?" Damon questioned and Maddie quietly chuckled as she continued unpacking.

"A very nice gentleman gave it to me, he called it a gift." Maddie replied.

"A gentleman friend, really? I have to admit that I'm surprised as you doing being alone better than Stefan given that you've sworn off men ever since we became vampires. Now what have you been up to these last few years to warrant such a change Leni?"

"He wasn't that kind of friend Damon and although you chose to whore your way through your eternal damnation I don't. There's been no change in me whatsoever, I am still firm friends with celibacy and singledom, plan to be for a good while." Maddie quipped.

"So this guy who gave you the Aston Martin, did he give it to you or did he _give _it to you?" Damon asked.

Smirking to herself Maddie slowly turned on her heels in order to face her bother, she knew what he was insinuating and she didn't like it. "I didn't compel him Damon, this gentleman willingly gave me that car as a gift. Unlike you I don't need to use compulsion to get what I want, I can rely on my wit and natural charm and not be able to manipulate people's minds."

"Very funny Madeleine." Damon replied as he walked further into the room before sitting himself down on Maddie's bed.

"I thought it was funny. Just like I thought it was funny that you and Stefan returned home despite me distinctively telling you a good few decades ago that the two of you weren't allowed to come back here after what happened the last time. I thought I made myself pretty clear especially after all those people died including Joseph." Maddie sarcastically replied "Then I hear about all the funny business that's been going since you got here and I don't like it Damon, I don't like it at all especially how Elena looks just exactly like Katherine."

"And that is the reason we don't tell you things Maddie because you get all judgemental." Damon retorted.

"I'm your sister, it's my job to be judgmental and be a major pain in the ass when your acting like an idiot which seems to have become a fulltime job for the last 56 years… Now tell me all about this Katherine thing and how she's not as dead as I was led to believe for these last hundred and forty five years. Now I know that she was rounded up that very eventful night a long time ago but I want to know how she managed to sneak out of being locked up." Maddie demanded.

"Sweet talked one of the guards."

"That's a start, now continue. I want to know how you knew or thought that she underneath Fell's church." Maddie said as she sat down on the bed next to Damon

"Emily Bennett."

Maddie scoffed and ran her hand through her hair, of course the witch had something to do with it Now Maddie had liked Emily, she had seemed very nice even enchanted the lapis luzuli jewellery that allowed them to walk in the sun but like Damon and Stefan, Emily fell prey to Katherine. "Emily Bennett. Of course she was involved, I should have known. Anything to do with Katherine, Emily was right beside her in the thick of it all with some kind on involvement."

"In exchange for ensuring the safety of her children and her line, Emily promised me that she's protect Katherine for the round up. I had to wait for the comet to pass before I even attempted to open the tomb." Damon admitted and Maddie was surprised about how open he was being with her.

"You know what amazes me Damon? You've been in love with Katherine all this time and at the same time you've been unable to forgive Stefan for what happened with her. It wasn't his fault you know, it wasn't like he wanted to become a vampire. I know I didn't." Maddie admitted.

"Leni..."

"She had no choice, now did she? I discovered her secret when I walked into your room and saw her biting you. I screamed in terror and I tried to run but you remember Damon. Katherine was too fast for me, she grabbed on to me and there was a struggle and I fell. Hit me head on the dresser, it was pretty hard as I remember being in a lot of pain and seeing blood everywhere. I was laying on the ground and things were hazy and I remember you coming to my side. You knew I was dying. You begged and pleaded for her to save me. She did it. Although I doubt it was because you asked her, I believe it was because she would know the consequences of what would happen if I died. Back then I was the darling daughter of one of the founding families, engaged to the handsome son of another. People would be suspicious, they'd want answers; Papa would have wanted answers. Although hours later he shot me dead because I was stupid enough to go after the two of you, to stop you from doing something incredibly stupid." Maddie said recalling the events of what led her to becoming a vampire.

"I'm sorry about that, I never meant for you to get caught up in it Leni." Damon said and Maddie sighed.

"But I was caught up in it Damon and I ended up losing my life, my father and my fiancé in one go. I forgave you for that because I am your sister and you are my brother and that is what families do. They forgive each other when they've messed up. I forgave you, yet you cannot bring yourself to forgive Stefan for something that isn't his fault. Just like you he couldn't help but be lured into Katherine and he fell in love with her just like you didn't. Damon you knew the truth the entire time, what she was and all the lies she was spinning to everyone…"

"Maddie…" Damon began.

"This thing you have with making Stefan's life miserable? It's stupid and I dare to think what mama would think of this? I don't think this is what meant when she told you, she wanted you to take care of your siblings before she died. The two of you were best friends and look at you now? Bitter enemies all because you were manipulated by an evil women and for some reason you place the blame on Stefan instead of Katherine! Zach. Lexi. Both dead because of you. Along with countless others including Joseph during your time here during the fifties all because of this stupid. I went to the tv station, went through the newspaper archives for the last two and a half months and saw all the animal attacks, which was no doubt due to you."

"Your point?" Damon demanded and Maddie could see he was going on the defensive but she honestly didn't care at this point. She came here to fix him and in order to fix her brother, Maddie needed to give her brother some hard truths.

"My point is sometimes I don't even know who you are anymore, as your not the Damon Salvatore I knew back in 1864…"


	4. Chapter 4

Gently tapping her fingers on the table in front of her Maddie surveyed the people in the local eatery 'The Mystic Grill' who were going about their business unaware that a vampire was observing them. Maddie had decided to go into town to reacquaint herself with her surroundings and after a couple of hours had winded up in here. The place wasn't too bad especially after Maddie had ordered a large glass of red wine. Mystic Falls was somewhat of a bittersweet place for Maddie as it helped both good and bad memories for her, it was the town where she was born but also the place in which she died and lost everything that she had ever known or love. Well practically as Maddie still had Damon and Stefan.

"It's scary I know, how much I look like my brothers." Maddie said aloud as if she was talking to herself but really she was addressing Elena who had clearly thought that Maddie hadn't noticed that she had been staring at her for the last couple of minutes. But Maddie had seen her, she had just chosen not to say anything until now. "You look at me long enough you can start noticing and pointing out the similar features such as the same raven hair as Damon but the same soft eyes as Stefan, amongst other things. According to my father I look very much like my mother…"

Elena made her way over and Maddie motioned for her to join her. "I'm sorry for staring."

"Don't be. I understand the curiosity as I'm the mysterious sister who suddenly turns up out of the blue but I wouldn't worry Elena as I won't be here for too long hopefully. If all goes to plan, I'll have Damon fixed up just after New Years and I'll be on my way out of this town once again."

"You're not staying?"

Maddie shook her head and proceeded to take a large sip of her wine. "Oh no, I never stay. I keep my distance from this town and my brothers; it works out better for everyone involved that way. My family and this town have a long, turbulent, violent and downright messy history with each other. Things do not end well when my brothers are in this town, I only come back to Mystic Falls when there is no other option, you need to understand that Elena I don't come back to this town unless I have to and usually it has something to do with my brothers."

"Stefan said that you didn't like being here because it reminds you of George Lockwood." Elena said.

"There's some partial truth to that, unlike my brother's I'm not hung up on someone I used to know. I loved George but I knew he's dead and I accepted that a long time ago. But this town reminds me of everything that I once had but lost long ago, you could say that I'm haunted by my past whenever I return to Mystic Falls. I had a good life here, which was snatched away by that little scheming bitch Katherine."

"Oh…" Elena replied awkwardly.

"Yeah… The fact that you look just like her isn't going to make me like you Elena, it'll just make me dislike you even more than I already do. You seem like a nice enough girl Elena but you are the reason why my brothers won't leave town. I know Stefan, he would have Mystic Falls the moment he knew Damon was in town but he didn't. On my back into town I kept thinking what would make Stefan stay in Mystic Falls, at the time I thought I knew why Damon was there; to make Stefan's life miserable. But Stefan being here made no sense, when I arrived I thought that maybe it had something to do with this tomb thing but then I met you and it all made sense." Maddie continued.

"Maddie…"

"She ruined our lives, people died because of her and yet Damon is still hung up on her and Stefan is dating her exact look alike. A hundred and forty five years and Katherine Pierce is still stringing along my brothers and I hate it. I hate what it does to them, what it has done to my family."

"I'm not Katherine." Elena firmly stated.

"You sure as hell look like her and I tell you this now Elena, I cannot and will not have history repeating itself again, we barely survived the first time round. I doubt my family could the second time round." Maddie retorted as she wearily eyed up the teenager sitting in front of her before smiling.

"I don't want to hurt anyone Maddie, I care for Stefan and in a way Damon too. I know –" Elena began.

Maddie swiftly interrupted. "–That's the thing Elena, you don't know, compared to me you've only known my brothers for five minutes, I've known Damon every single day of my life and I have known Stefan every single day of his life. That's over a hundred and sixty two years, so please don't tell me about my brothers. I know them better than myself and better than you ever will and I've seen both the good and the bad but I still love them, I will always love them. "I have this thing. I call my brothers and myself a numerous amount of trio nicknames because as you can see there are three of us. Such as The Salvatore's Three. Then there is Snap, Crackle and Pop or Tom, Dick and Harriett. But do you want to know my favourite of them all?

"What?"

"Have you seen the Wizard of Oz?" Maddie questioned.

"Yes."

"It's a good film, I've watched it many a times with Stefan when were together. Anyway you'll know that on the way to the Emerald City, Dorothy and Toto pick up three companions. Would you like to know which Salvatore sibling is which? Damon is the tin man as he simply doesn't have a heart, why else would he kill his own nephew and his brother's best friend? There is Stefan, quite possibly the sweetest little brother I could ask for, but in this whole thing? He's the scarecrow as he lacks a brain in certain matters concerning you and other matters. Why else would he risk so much when I told him that he was never to return to Mystic Falls unless I was with him? And me? Quite simply I am the cowardly lion." Maddie quipped.

"Why are you the cowardly lion?" Elena asked.

"The absence of courage would probably have something to do with that, isn't that right Stefan?" Maddie asked being fully aware that her brother had been making his way towards them and only now stopping at the foot of the table. Stefan didn't answer, instead he chose to look at Maddie with a look that told her she was in a quite some trouble

"Excuse us Elena, Madeleine and I need to leave and have a discussion somewhere more private."


	5. Chapter 5

Maddie finished the rest of her drink before slowly rising from her seat and wordlessly following Stefan out of the grill and down a small alley beside the grill. No doubt about it she was in big trouble with her little brother over this little conversation she had with Elena for reasons Maddie wasn't even sure why? The two of them had only been talking which was perfectly innocent. Idly trailing behind Stefan, Maddie continued to follow her brother until he came to a stop near the end of the back alley and turned to face her with his best disapproving look and Maddie prepared herself for the lecture that she knew was coming.

"Madeleine…"

"Bloody hell Stefan I was only having a conversation with her, it's not like I was threatening to kill her." Maddie said interrupting her brother before he started with his always long drawn lecture, which always began with the use of her full name.

"You were close to." Stefan couldn't help but point out and Maddie had to give him that one as that was the proposed end to her conversation with Elena. The whole 'I will kill you if anything happens to my brothers as I won't have history repeating itself, Katherine or no Katherine'. However that never happened as Stefan had interrupted Maddie before she had even got to that part.

"But I didn't."

"That's because I arrived and stopped you before you could intimidate Elena…" Stefan said.

Maddie couldn't help but let out a quiet little scoff. "Me intimidating her? That's funny Stefan. I'm incapable of scaring anyone, I'm just little ole' me. Stefan I think your overreacting just a bit, you know that my bark's worse than my bite baby brother. I'm not Damon, I don't just kill people for the sake of it, I would only ever kill Elena if I had no other choice and I think killing someone in order to protect my brothers is justifiable. The three of us have gone through so much since we became vampires, so can you really blame me for wanting the two of you to be safe? Call me selfish but I like having you and Damon around, it makes the loneliness of eternity just that more bearable "

"Maddie, there is nothing for you to worry about as nothing is going to happen…" Stefan said in an attempt to soothe Maddie.

"Seriously? You're standing here telling me not to worry given that a couple of days ago you called me late at night telling me that Damon practically had a meltdown. There is plenty to worry about, I came home to find out that Zach and plenty of others have died since the two of you came back to Mystic Falls, I find out that Katherine isn't dead as I believed but running around somewhere still toying with Damon after all these years. And then you're dating a girl who is the spitting image of the woman who destroyed our entire lives, the woman who took everything from me. That is plenty for me to be worrying about. I am constantly scared Stefan! I am always worried about what is going to happen! Do you have any idea what it's like to constantly fear that your brothers are going to end up killing each other?" Maddie demanded.

"I know your scared Maddie and I know you want me to do but I can't leave; I can't leave her…"

"What the hell is wrong with you Stefan? Are you really that stupid or are you trying to live out so warped fantasy of a life with Katherine that you didn't get in 1864!"

Stefan shook his head. "I've told you already Maddie, she's not Katherine."

"I really don't understand Stefan, I really don't understand… All she is Stefan is a glorified carbon version of Katherine… Elena's just a human Stefan, whilst you stay the same Elena is just going to keep getting older until she dies, they all die in the end. You might as well give up, spare yourself the heartache and walk away, spare the two of you getting hurt even." Maddie suggested and the look in Stefan's eye told Maddie that he didn't not agree with her suggestion nor did he appreciate it.

"At lease I have someone Maddie! Your just standing here criticizing my choices because your still hung up over George Lockwood! It's been a hundred and forty five years Leni you need to move on with your life!" Stefan snapped and Maddie had to take a step back as she honestly felt like she had been slapped in the face.

"Wow…" Maddie quietly said. She couldn't believe that her brother had used the George Lockwood card. It was a pretty low blow, even Damon had never gone that far.

"Leni, I didn't mean that." Stefan said taking a step towards Maddie but she shook her head and took a couple of steps back.

"I think you did, otherwise you wouldn't have said it… But this isn't about George, this was never about him as I know he's dead Stefan. I'm not hung up on him, I just chose to be by myself because it's easier that way. I fear that I'll never love someone as much as I loved George which is why I'm by myself as I'm scared of falling in love again. You don't think I want you to be happy? Of course I do but not like this, you being back home, you being here with Elena has changed you Stefan." Maddie began.

"I haven't changed Maddie."

Maddie sighed, of course Stefan wouldn't see it. Sometimes her brother was so blissfully ignorant of the truth no doubt because of this little bubble he was living in. "You may not see it but I do; for months you've been living this life and been lying to me about it and where you were. You didn't call to tell me about Zach or Lexi, just fed me rubbish about some fake life you were living. I don't remember a time that you've ever lied to me, Damon on the other? He lies to me constantly enough that it doesn't even phase me anymore. I know you think I'm being selfish by what I'm asking you to do but I get to be Stefan, because of Katherine I lost everything; papa, our home, my hopes and dream, George and I almost lost you and Damon. I refuse to let that happen."

"I know you want me to leave Leni, but I can't… I'm sorry." Stefan wearily began.

"So am I."


	6. Chapter 6

The holidays passed in relative ease and quietness as Maddie wasn't exactly on speaking terms with either of her brothers due to pissing them off for two completely different reasons. Sometimes it was better when the three of them weren't talking to each other as it led to less damage to being done, although Maddie didn't like it when she wasn't on speaking terms with her brothers especially during the holidays given that the holidays were about family. No matter how much she didn't like it Maddie wasn't going to apologize as she knew she was right in both regards and as such she wasn't backing down

"Hi Annie." Maddie turned around and saw Damon standing in the doorway of her room with his favourite accessory; a glass of scotch in his hand. He seemed to be in a pleasant enough mood, which warranted the use of the Annie Wilkes name. She chose to ignore him. "What's with the cold reception?"

"Your not talking to me remember? Haven't been for a week or two after I chewed you out real good about Katherine and Stefan? That ring a bell?" Maddie questioned.

Damon smirked as he walked further into the room and sat himself down on Maddie's bed. "You know that I can never stay mad at you Leni, you're my favourite sister."

"I'm your only sister." Maddie corrected.

"So… Getting ready to leave already?" Damon asked pointing to the pile of clothes that were sitting, neatly folded on the end of the bed and Maddie couldn't help but frown.

"Perhaps. There's not really any reason for me to stay as you're some what functional again and then you and Stefan aren't exactly talking to me so I'd rather not to stay in a place where I'm not wanted. Especially not this place." Maddie wearily said as the last place she wanted was to be here and watch history repeat itself. She didn't have to expand on it as Damon knew that this wasn't easy for Maddie, being back in Mystic Falls that was. Turning into a vampire had been a traumatic event for Maddie and that was only made worse by the fact that she along with her brothers had to leave town because the town had been led to believe that they were dead. Having to walk away from George was hard but then the death of her father had made things worse. Maddie was inconsolable and cried for weeks on end.

"What if I want you to stay?" Damon asked and Maddie gave her brother a pointed look.

"Let me guess? Because you know I'll be on Stefan's case about Elena, which works into your big bad plan of making Stefan miserable for the duration of eternal damnation? Because I won't do it Damon. Your problem with Stefan isn't my problem and I'm not going to get pulled into it further than I already am." Maddie replied.

"What if I told you that I wanted you to stay here because I miss my little sister? And that her being back here with her two brothers reminds me of how things used to be before everything changed, in a weird abstract way." Damon revealed and Maddie's eyes soften and slowly she made her way over to her bed and sat down next to Damon.

"Why? I'll do nothing but nag you and we'll argue, things will get bad and then it'll all get too much for me and then I'll run because I'm a coward and running is what I do best. I've been doing it for a hundred and forty five years."

"So? I like you the way you are Leni, you're not perfect but people can't help but like you." Damon began before pausing to take a deep breath. "You were always dad's favourite, Stefan may have been the favourite son but you Leni were the apple of his eye."

"But how the mighty have fallen, if papa knew what I had done behind his hack he would have been so mad with me…" Madeleine said.

Damon scoffed. "I doubt it! There's nothing you could have done to make him mad with you. Leni, you could have burnt the house down–"

"Oh I don't know about that Damon, I think papa definitely would have had a problem with me sneaking off and marrying George Lockwood in the dead of the night." Maddie nonchalantly announced and she watched as Damon's mouth dropped in shock at that little titbit of information. "Shocking, right? Little ol' Madeleine Salvatore never does anything… Well technically it's Madeleine Lockwood or rather it was but anyway the point is that I eloped."

"You married George…" Damon asked after a moment.

"Yes."

"Why? When?" Damon demanded.

"Well I married him because I loved him and we didn't want to wait any longer, I used to miss him terribly when he was away fighting in the war. You remember how happy I was when George came home anyway the night of the founder's party George pulled me away and we went outside and he asked me to marry him. I laughed and asked if his fighting in the war made him forget that I had already agreed to marry him but George just looked at me and he asked me again, only this time he said marry me now. We were married two hours later, with only George, myself, Pastor Hale and Honoria Fell knowing." Maddie explained.

"And you didn't say anything, why?"

"You'd only get mad as would everyone else so I figured we wouldn't tell anyone and we do the whole wedding ceremony later, either way George and I would still be married."

Damon frowned. "A hundred and forty five years you've kept that quiet Madeleine, I get why you didn't tell me back in 1864 but you've had plenty of chances to since then."

"Things were a mess as was I and then kept getting worse, we didn't speak about George and in the end really it was just easier to not mention it. I don't really know Damon, maybe I liked having it a secret I really don't know." Maddie admitted with a sigh.

"You're right, dad would have been pissed. He would have killed you for eloping." Damon eventually replied.

"Well he did kill me, just not for the George thing." Maddie couldn't help point out and simultaneously both her and Damon sighed as they remembered the night they died all to well. Damon and Stefan had gone to save Katherine and Maddie had gone after them in an attempt to stop them. Their father had followed armed with his gun and when he aimed at Damon, Maddie had leaped in the way and took the bullet that was meant for her brother. It hit her in the chest region and Maddie could remember falling to the ground and then hearing the two more shots which had taken down her brothers. The last thing Maddie remembered before she died was her father scrambling to her side, crying and whispering he was sorry. That was the last time Maddie ever saw her father as he was dead less than twenty four hours later.

"So… You going to stay or what Mrs. Lockwood" Damon began in an attempt to break the weird silence that had engulfed them as their father was a rather difficult subject for them.

Maddie pulled a face, she couldn't believe her brother was calling her that now she actually preferred the Annie Wilkes nickname over that. "Don't call me that as firstly Carol Lockwood is Mrs. Lockwood and that name makes me sound horrendously old."

"But you are horrendously old Maddie, a hundred and sixty six, soon to be the big old hundred and sixty seven in a few weeks." Damon pointed out.

"Stuck in the body of a twenty year old." Maddie retorted and Damon scoffed before looking at her with an expectant look. "What now?"

"Answer the damn question already Leni, you staying or going?"

Maddie sighed, there was pros and cons for staying and going, she had so much history with this town and most of it wasn't good. It changed her and her brothers so much and it reminded Maddie of everything that she had lost and being back was just a constant reminder of the things that she could never forget despite her best attempts to. But this was her home not to mention that Stefan and Damon were here, getting along somewhat for the first time in decades. Maddie knew what the right and sensible thing to do was but she was going to discard it and take a risk. "I'm going to end up regretting this but sure…"


	7. Chapter 7

Sighing to herself as she picked up another piece of discarded clothes of Damon's bedroom floor Maddie put it into the laundry basket that she was holding, somehow she managed to become a housekeeper during the time in which she had decided to stay in Mystic Falls. But Maddie supposed it was for the best as god knows how Damon would take of himself without someone cleaning up for him and the same went for the boarding house. Picking up the last of Damon's shirts and dirty sheets Maddie made her way out of his room where she ran into Stefan. Whilst the two of them were no longer avoiding each other after their very heated argument, things had become slightly awkward, as there was tension in the air due to Stefan's comment about Maddie being hung up over George.

"We need to talk, please Leni…" Stefan began and Maddie briefly eyed her brother before walking past him to head down the hallway towards Stefan's bedroom. She figured if she washing Damon's clothes than she might as well do Stefan's too but halfway down on the hallway Maddie stopped and turned around.

"Okay."

"Look about what happened before Leni, I really didn't mean what I said about you and George–"Stefan began.

"–Forget it Stefan, we both said things that whilst we weren't proud of them we did however mean them. So what did you want to talk about? I'm assuming that you didn't want to talk to me about George." Maddie said uncomfortably in an effort to move things along.

"We have a problem. It's complicated and it may have something to do with Damon." Stefan wearily said and Maddie frowned as recently Damon had kind of been a saint and by saint Maddie meant whoring his was through college girls, drinking from them and compelling them to be his playmates as such the current set up that was going on downstairs in the library. So Damon was behaving as well as he knew how to which made Maddie confused as to how there was a complicated problem involving him.

"Look Stefan I know your worried about Damon but he's fine, he was going through a hard time with this whole Katherine not being in the tomb but he's working through his issues the only way he knows how. He'll be back to his devilishly annoying self in no time, we've just got to be patient and allow Damon to deal with his problems how he sees fit. Don't worry I'm keeping an eye on him, I'll step in when he goes too far." Maddie reassured Stefan giving her brother a small smile before walking away or at least attempting to as Stefan grabbed on to her arm and pulled Maddie back.

"That's not what I mean Maddie…" Stefan said with a sigh. "Yes Damon's current state is worrying but I need to talk to you about something Damon did a while back and I'm talking before he came back to Mystic Falls."

"Do I need to be worried?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, you do."

Maddie nodded. "Okay, so what did he do."

"Do you remember me telling you that Elena was adopted?" Stefan asked and Maddie slowly nodded, she remembered Stefan telling her that Elena was adopted by the Gilberts who had forged the paperwork, It explained how Elena looked so much like Katherine despite being a Gilbert as far as they knew Katherine was related to the Gilberts in any shape or form until now. "Well Elena's Aunt Jenna was doing some research for Elena into her birth parents and she think she may have found her by Dr. Gilberts records from the night Elena was born. Her name was Isobel and she was from Grove Hill."

"So Elena's birth mother lives pretty close to here, that's nice Stefan but what does that have to do with our brother? Because there's no way possible way that this Isobel chick and Damon hooked up and Damon is Elena's dad because that physically cannot happen." Maddie asked.

"Isobel's dead."

"Sucks for Elena but I repeat how does that link to Damon?" Maddie demanded.

"I think Damon killed Isobel." Stefan announced and Maddie could see what Stefan was talking about now. That was a bit of a problem and it had the potential of being very awkward. "It gets worse Leni…"

"Worse than Damon killing Elena's birth mother? Yeah I highly doubt that Stefan." Maddie scoffed.

"Ask me what Isobel's surname was." Stefan asked and Maddie just frowned as this pointless but Stefan seemed adamant about playing this silly little game and for now Maddie would go along with it.

"Okay what was Isobel's surname?"

"Saltzman."

Maddie frowned as that surname sounded awfully familiar to her but she couldn't figure out where she knew the name Saltzman until finally came back to her and when it did Maddie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Saltzman? Like Alaric Saltzman the history teacher slash local vampire hunter? Are you seriously telling me that Isobel was somehow related to Alaric and Damon killed her?"

"She was his wife." Stefan announced and Maddie could have sworn she felt a blood vessel explode. Not only did Damon kill Elena's birth mother but he killed the wife of a vampire hunter! Boy did Stefan have it right when he said it was complicated. Maddie needed a very strong drink to help her process all of this information.

"Bloody hell."

"I know Leni, this happened over a year ago in North Carolina and apparently Alaric witnessed Damon feeding off Isobel before he disappeared with her body."

"Let me guess the rest… Vengeful vampire hunter comes to seek revenge on vampire who killed his wife and reunite with his long lost daughter? God I haven't killed anyone in ages but I cannot let this hunter kill Damon…" Maddie said with a sigh as she tried to come up with some kind of plan.

"Leni you don't have to kill anyone and your only half right, I don't believe that Alaric is Elena's birth father but he is looking for answers for about what happened to his wife and his body. I've told him that killing Damon would be a bad idea and so far he hasn't done anything. I'm hoping that if I get some answers from Damon then that he may leave Damon alone. It's a long of a long shot…" Stefan wearily said.

"That is a very long shot Stefan." Maddie grimly replied.

"Which is why I need your help Leni… I know you and Damon have kept in touch over the years, did he ever mention anything about Isobel or North Caroline to you?" Stefan asked.

"Not that I can recall from the top of my head…"

"Then I'm going to have to ask Damon."

"No way, bad idea little brother… Have you been paying attention to what's been going on in the library recently or seen the state Damon is in? He is in no state to be answering your questions and even if you asked I doubt he'd answer you." Maddie replied until she noticed how Stefan was looking at her. "You want me to speak to him, that's just great Stefan that really is!"

"C'mon Leni, Damon likes you better and if there was anyone he'd be willing to tell than it's you…" Stefan prodded and Maddie knew he was right so reluctantly she put down her laundry basket and made their way down to the library with Stefan where Damon had set up camp. The sight that the two of them were greeted to was that of Damon dancing around the room with some sorority girls and feeing off one of them at the same time. It was disgusting but then that was Damon.

"Noooo! Buzzkill Bob." Damon whined when Stefan turned off the music. "Oh, hi Leni!"

"Hey yourself, can we talk?" Maddie asked trying her best to ignore the half naked girls that were gormlessly walking around the library like zombies. No doubt due to Damon compelling them to be his sex and blood slaves but she was secretly pleased that Damon was happy to see her. That was always nice.

"Yeah."

"Without the tri-delts, please."

"Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them. They're really good at keeping secrets!" Damon slurred a bit but Maddie just gave him a look to say that she wasn't messing around and how she wasn't asking for him to get read of the college girls, she was telling him. It seemed to work as Damon sighed before coming over and the two of them along with Stefan walked to the side to talk alone. "You're worried about me. That's nice and such a typical Leni thing. Don't be. There's no need. I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? I spent the last 145 years with one goal: get into that tomb. I succeeded! Granted, Katherine wasn't in there to be rescued, but why dwell? You know, it's so liberating not having a master plan, because now I can do whatever the hell I want."

"I know that which is why I'm not worried about you, whereas Stefan on the other hand is worried about you Damon." Maddie corrected although it was reassuring to know that Damon was well aware of the concern he was causing. It meant that he was slowly making his way back and not completely over the edge like Stefan thought.

"Relax baby brother I haven't killed anyone in... too long." Damon wearily stated.

"Those girls?" Stefan asked looking over to the college girls as he questioned Damon about whether or not he was going to kill them.

"Will end up in their dorm with headaches, think they blacked out. Business as usual. Predictable you didn't pull me over here for a pep talk. So drink up. Spill it, brother and sister… Purge all you like my two little siblings!" Damon said and Maddie just rolled her eyes although it did remind her that her brother needed to be cut of from alcohol very soon.

"There was a woman you may have known a few years back named Isobel in North Carolina at Duke. I want to talk about that, if it's okay with you Damon?" Maddie asked.

"You wanna discuss the women in my past right now? Seriously? Your real funny Mrs. Lockwood, much more than people give you credit for!" Damon replied and Maddie knew that she had her work cut out with Damon who was looking at her and laughing his head off. "I'm sorry Leni I can't call you that… You'll always be Annie to me!"

Maddie couldn't help but snort in amusement, it was nice to know that Damon would always see her as a deranged murderer than as a wife. And by that she mean the nicknames of course…

"You killed her. This woman Isobel." Stefan stated forcing Damon back on track.

Damon looked away from Maddie and over to Stefan. "What's your point?

"I just wanna know if you remember anything about her that's all." Maddie said trying to make this sound really important as if she started pressuring Damon about Isobel he'd figure something was up and then get al defensive. Which would get them nowhere.

"Oh, it's like a needle in a haystack, Leni…"

"Well can you think harder? It's kind of important Damon, I don't need an answer straight away but could you think about it and get back to me? I'd really appreciate it Damon." Maddie said as nicely as she could possibly muster given the situation that her eldest brother was currently unaware that he was in.

Nothing is important, not anymore. Great chat. I have to go and exploit some women in the name of grief, which I'm sure you of all people understand Leni… but wait you don't!" Damon chuckled before stumbling off to rejoin his new friends, putting the music back on as he did. Maddie and Stefan watched for a few moments before leaving the library and heading to the living room where they could talk.

"That went spectacularly well." Stefan sarcastically said.

"And what were you expecting? For Damon to come out and admit that he killed this woman and tell us where he got rid of the body? Do you really know that little about our brother Stefan? Damon would never make things easy even if he did remember Isobel…" Maddie retorted.

"So you don't think Damon remembers?"

"Nope and to be honest I'd be surprised if he did, Damon's done a lot of things since we've become vampires and remembering that he killed some woman from North Carolina probably doesn't rank to high on his memorable moments."


	8. Chapter 8

Maddie crossed the square with Stefan to meet Alaric Saltzman, the husband of the woman that Damon supposedly killed and was the local vampire hunter. Based on those two pieces of information Maddie didn't want to meet him but this Alaric guy seemed adamant about getting answers about his wife and would no doubt resort to violence if he didn't get any answers soon. Whilst dealing with that Maddie couldn't help but think about everything her brothers had gotten up to that she had no idea about. Her brothers were no saints, Maddie was perfectly aware of that they had both done terrible things but things seemed to be getting even more out of control. It was a good thing that she was here. A tall and rather good looking but rather weary man with brown hair made their way towards them and Maddie took him to be Alaric.

"Alaric Saltzman, I'd like you to meet my sister Madeleine Salvatore." Stefan began making the introductions.

"I would say that it's pleasure but given the circumstances I won't." Maddie added being honest because the last thing she ever wanted to do was come fact to face with a vampire hunter, for obvious reasons. Maddie may be dead but she liked living and wanted to stay living for a while longer at least.

"Thanks for meeting me, something's come up." Alaric said and Maddie watched as a look passed over Stefan's face and it seemed quite worrying. God knows what the problem was but already both her and Stefan seemed to know that it wouldn't be good. Nothing good ever seemed to happen in this town anymore, it was all crisis's which seemed to involve the wide ranger of supernatural creatures that lived in this town.

"Jenna told you." Stefan guessed referring to the whole Isobel and Elena thing and Alaric wearily nodded.

"Yeah."

"So it's true. Your wife Isobel was Elena's birth mother?" Maddie asked and after a moment Alaric nodded his head, confirming what Maddie and Stefan had already assumed to be true. Now it was a question of what to do with this information and how to proceed next as Alaric no doubt wanted Damon dead and that wasn't going to happen and Maddie doubted the man was just going to walk away from his wife's killer. The last thing Maddie wanted to do was kill Alaric but if he did get close to killing Damon then he'd have to go. Regardless of Maddie's opinions on killing humans.

"What does Elena know?" Alaric questioned.

"About your wife?" Maddie asked as Alaric was asking wasn't quite specific as he could asking about what Elena knew and as far as Maddie knew, Katherine's lookalike knew a lot about things she shouldn't. But Maddie took a guess and assumed this was about his wife.

Alaric shook his head. "About everything. About the two of you and your brother?"

"She knows what we are and she knows that you know about the vampires in town." Stefan informed Alaric who didn't seem to pleased to hear about any of this. Not that Maddie could blame him given that his personal life seemed to be a complete mess and Maddie had to remind herself that whilst that was all sad Alaric was vampire hunter who knew where they lived and had a literal axe to grind with one of her brothers.

"Does she know about Damon and Isobel?"

"No. I couldn't tell her, not until I was sure…" Stefan wearily replied.

"You said you'd help me." Alaric told Stefan.

"That wasn't Stefan's place to do so but I asked Damon earlier this morning about your wife without saying too much about it and he doesn't seem to remember a single thing about Isobel. Truth be told I don't think he even recalls killing your wife in the first place." Maddie said and the look that Alaric gave her suggested that not only did he not like what he was hearing but he also didn't believe it. Which had the potential to be quite problematic if something was done quickly about it as the last thing Maddie needed or wanted was to have a vampire hunter on hers and her brothers tails.

"Ask him again." Alaric demanded.

"No." Maddie retorted.

"What my sister is trying to say is that asking him again would be a very bad idea as Damon is not stable right now. He's kind of all over the place and it's better if we just left him alone at the moment…" Stefan explained and from what Maddie could tell Alaric didn't like that.

"You know, he murdered my wife, or at the very least made a meal out of her. When has he been stable?" Alaric asked.

"I know Damon killed or did something to your wife and I'm not condoning it as that was a very bad thing to do but I'm telling you that this is not a good idea. I know you want answers but you don't know my brother and he is in no position to be telling anyone anything. Mentally and emotionally Damon isn't there, he's just gone into full emotionless vampire mode which means he is in no position to help anyway so I'm sorry, I know Stefan said he'd help you but we can't help." Maddie stated.

"Look Madeleine…" Alaric began.

"Maddie, but whatever… I'm telling you not to push this at the moment because it will not end well if you keep trying to push Damon about something he clearly doesn't remember." Maddie said correcting Alaric about her name before warning the vampire hunter about what would happen if he didn't leave this thing with his wife and Damon alone."

"Give me a reason not to." Alaric retorted and Maddie couldn't help but admire how ballsy the guy was being but that wasn't going to be any help to him if Damon decided to push back.

"Your survival. How's that for a reason? You want to know specifically why I'm not going to push my brother for answers? It's because you push Damon too far and he won't push back, he'll hit back twice as hard. So he finds out you've been trying to get answers about your wife through us he will definitely lash out, he will come after you and snap your neck as that seems to be his current preference." Maddie shot back as she had no problem giving as good as she got.

"Look I'll handle it, but for now, we need you to let it go." Stefan said playing mediator in a clear attempt to make both Maddie and Alaric happy.

"Is that what you'll tell Elena? Let it go?" Alaric sceptically questioned.

"Leave Elena out of this… I need something more than just your wife's name. A picture, something I could show Damon." Stefan stated and Alaric handed over a photo of his wife Isobel and Stefan left, Maddie should have followed him but she stayed behind for some reason. This guy Alaric was fascinating

"Look I know that Damon is your brother and you want to protect him but I need to know what happened. I think you would, too." Alaric said and it was apparent to Maddie that he had decided to take the softer approach with her about this whole Damon thing.

"I get it Alaric I really do, if it had been my husband then I would want answers about what had happened to him–" Maddie began.

"Your married? You don't even look old enough to be married." Alaric questioned in surprise.

"Perks of being a hundred and sixty six years old but stuck in the body of a twenty year old, that's the upside of immortality. And I was married until I was widowed a very long time ago but technically I am still very much a widow…" Maddie noted with a small sigh.

"When you say a long time ago? You don't mean…"

"Back when I was still human? Yes, I was married and then I died and had to leave him as things were complicated but we were still legally married when he died which makes me his widow. So I get it Alaric, when I died my husband wanted answers because of what happened to me, the way I died and why I was there in the first place when I should have been at my father's house. My husband was the love of my life, his death almost killed me and there has been no one since him because part of me doesn't want to fall in love again. The other part of me is worried that no one will ever love me as much as he did. But my point is that there are some things that are better left kept secret no matter how desperate you are for an answer." Maddie explained half telling the truth as she couldn't tell Alaric one of her two last secrets as Damon and Stefan would kill her if they knew what she had done back in 1864 and it went beyond eloping in the middle of the night.

"You say you understand then why won't you help me? Your brother killed my wife and not to mention he has hurt countless others Maddie!" Alaric demanded and Maddie sighed, she knew he had a point but that didn't matter as Damon was family.

"My brother has done a lot of bad things, him killing your wife isn't going to make me turn him over to you. If I disowned my brother for killing one woman than I would have done decades ago…"


End file.
